This I Believe

I believe that all that kids need to be a success is an adult that will show them that they care about them. I also have a strong belief that teachers can be just this adult for many kids. That is why I am becoming a teacher.

When I went to school my teachers gave up on me. I was a smart kid but they figured I was just lazy, didn’t care, or was a discipline problem. I was the kid who cared more about the next party and having a good time then doing well in school. They had seen my brother come through the system and he had failed to succeed so they thought I was a lost cause from the beginning. Everyday I had the feeling that there was no hope and I didn’t see school as the salvation.

In high school I wasn’t the best student in the world for a number of personal reasons and most of my teachers seemed too busy with the students who were excelling to spend much time encouraging me. One teacher at my school who never had me in her class came up to me shortly before high school and told me that someday I would find out what I was meant to be and that I was smart enough to be whatever that was. It was the first time I ever felt any hope about my future. In that one moment, without any effort, she changed my perception of my self and my place in the world.

After high school I went into the Marine Corps and started to change my work ethic. My self esteem improved and I was a much better student when I started to attend college classes at night. I knew I really wanted to be a teacher. I knew there were kids out there who are like I was. They just need to be talked to like they matter. They need teachers and adults to inquire on how their feeling or why they are acting the way they are. They need attention, inquiry, and tough love at times. They need high expectations, follow through, and for someone to not let them fail. They need someone who might not understand but wants to understand. There are many teachers out there who are this someone. This I believe.

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Top 100 Essays USB Drive

This USB drive contains 100 of the top This I Believe audio broadcasts of the last ten years, plus some favorites from Edward R. Murrow's radio series of the 1950s. It's perfect for personal or classroom use! Click here to learn more.

This week’s essay

Growing up in the former Yugoslavia, lawyer Djenita Pasic enjoyed the peace of her religiously diverse country. But after the fall of communism and the outbreak of the Bosnian War, Pasic was forced to reevaluate her ideas about religion and tolerance. Click here to read her essay.